History of Mustique

In the later years of the 15th century, Spanish explorers came across a mysterious and beautiful set of islands. The explorers named the islands "Los Pajaros," or the birds, because from afar, the islands resembled tiny birds in flight. One of the islands that consisted of these "birds” was the island of Mustique.

The Arawak Indians were the first to inhabit Mustique, but were later superseded by the Carib tribe. The Caribs also proved to be short-lived, as Europeans came in the 1740's and took over Mustique to grow sugar, a good that was a scarcity at the time. Ancient tools still remain on the island today, which provide evidence of the Caribs' short residence.

Thanks to the sugar plantations, Mustique thrived economically for a time. In the early 1800's; however, the Europeans realized that they could grow sugar beats in their own countries and thus abandoned Mustique. As a result, jungle life began to spread across the island, and the inhabitants became mostly plants and animals.

Mustique remained relatively abandoned and forgotten until the year 1958, when it was purchased by Colin Tennant. This was a rather bold move, for the island lacked water or infrastructure. The years following the purchase thus entailed a lot of hard work to create an industrialized civilization on the island.

In the 1960's, Mustique began to progress towards economic development. The Mustique Company was formed, to continue improving the island's appeal as well as preserving its history. This led to the construction of airports, villas, road networks, medical clinics, and a new installation of electricity. It was not long before Mustique became a bustling community with a thriving economy, and began to attract people from all over the world.

Today, the island is owned by 55 home-owners, who all have beautiful privately-owned villas available for weekly rentals. The Mustique Island constantly draws in visitors with its tropical climate, gorgeous nature life, and its clean, warm waters perfect for scuba-diving and snorkeling. The island is known for being private and tranquil, and is considered one of the most secure and cleanly places in the entire world. This stellar reputation makes Mustique the perfect place to take a nice, relaxing vacation and escape all troubles.